Emil von Sauer - Piano Concerto No. 2 (Oleg Marshev)

Information

Composer: Emil von Sauer

• Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
• 5 Morceaux de difficulté moyenne
• Petite Scène de Ballet in D major
• Menuet (Vieux style) in B flat major
• Polka de Concert in A major
• Galop de Concert (Etude-Galop) in A flat major

Oleg Marshev, piano

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra

James Loughran, conductor

Date: 2002

Label: Danacord

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Review

Volume 6 of Oleg Marshev’s survey of Emil von Sauer’s keyboard music includes a first recording of the Second Piano Concerto, already a far cry from the the First Concerto’s beguiling if less ambitious world. Getting off to an exotic start (moderato lamentoso), the pianist quickly launches into a magisterial utterance worthy of Brahms. Wildly disparate elements are ingeniously knitted together and the Scherzo (part of a Lisztian, continuous argument) has a sufficiently grotesque undertow to lift it from salon vacuity into genuine character and piquancy (did Sauer know Pierné’s Piano Concerto of 1887 or was he haunted by Grieg’s trolls and northern lights?). The Adagio blossoms into a sumptuous, richly harmonised melody and if the concluding Allegro deciso is heavy-footed, its outsize flourish at 4'27" offers Marshev an ideal gift for his full-blooded, all-Russian technique and commitment. 

After such virtuosity the Cinq Morceaux de difficulté moyenne gently coax the less ambitious pianist. And whether in a Schumannesque March, nostalgic Waltz or in a Berceuse lost in its own elegant reverie, Marshev plays with ideal fluency and warmth.The final four pieces are dated charmers tailored to the taste of the day yet once again with enough surprises to rescue them from triviality. The recording is excellent and James Loughran and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra are enthusiastic partners in their voyage of discovery.

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone

More reviews:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/may04/Sauer_pc2.htm

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/jun04/Sauer_pc2.htm

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/d/dcd00596a.php

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Emil von Sauer (8 October 1862 – 27 April 1942) was a notable German composer, pianist, score editor, and music (piano) teacher. He studied with Nikolai Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory between 1879 and 1881, then went on to study with Franz Liszt for two years. From 1882, Sauer made frequent and successful tours as a virtuoso pianist; his performing career lasted until 1940. Along with editing the complete piano works of Johannes Brahms and a number of academic works by Pischna, Plaidy and Kullak, Sauer wrote piano concertos, piano sonatas, concert études, piano pieces, and lieder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_von_Sauer

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Oleg Marshev (born 1961 in Baku, Azerbaijan) is a Soviet and Russian pianist and now a resident of Italy. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Mikhail Voskresensky, graduating in 1988 with a Performance Doctorate. Marshev's first recording project was the complete original works for solo piano by Prokofiev (5 CDs) for Danacord Records. He has since recorded over 30 CDs for the same label, featuring works by Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Rubinstein, Rachmaninov and others. Marshev became the first pianist to perform the entirety of Emil von Sauer’s piano music, making up 6 volumes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Marshev

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